Somewhere Between Living and Dying: Walking Dead Fanfiction
by Southernbelle246
Summary: Rosalie Wilson has been caring for her 3 younger sisters ever since the outbreak. Each sister comes from a difficult past. When one day they stumble across Hershel Greene's farm their lives change forever. They develop a sense of belonging and family, experiencing love and loss along the way as they all try to survive in a difficult world.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**Rosalie:**

I remember the first time I killed a deer. It was my first hunting trip. My dad kept insisting to my mother I had to go hunting. I was "tough" he said. I remember the begging my father had to do with my mother and the tears I had to shed in order to be allowed to go. But she finally relented, she could never say no to my father no matter how hard she tried. She acted angry and ignored my father for a while but it never lasted. My father would joke with her and that same smile would comeback, quickly and faintly tugging at the corners of her mouth lighting up her beautiful young face. My whole family knew that playful smile meant she had forgiven us, even if only for a while.

My mother woke me up early that morning covering with me with kisses and tickles in order to wake me from my deep slumber. It was so early and so cold I wished to stay forever tucked beneath the covers close beside my warm sister. I rolled over away from her and pushed my face deeper into the soft feather pillow willing back the sleep she had taken me from.

"Guess your gonna let the family starve then huh? And why, your sisters were so looking forward to the deer meat their big sister was going to bring back for them. I told your father you weren't tough enough for this," she said as she softly padded out of the room. She let out a small sigh, "guess I have to go tell your father."

I suddenly snapped out of bed with such force that I was surprised I hadn't awaken my sister, I could feel the heat on my face and the embarrassment I felt. "I'm getting up please don't tell Daddy! I'm awake I swear! Ill prove to you I'm tough I was just tired. I'll catch us the biggest fattest deer for dinner!" I said this all practically screaming with tears on the brim of escaping my eyelids. My mother stood with her back to me in the doorway listening and she silently turned around flashing me that same playful smile. I sighed with relief feeling the tears vanish. She chuckled and sat down next to me pulling me close to her.

"Oh Rosie your the toughest girl I know! Why our house would be swarmed with spiders if it wasn't for you killing them for me! I just had to say something to get you to move from your bed" her smile growing wider and then fading quickly. I could tell a new thought had passed through her mind. I quickly squeezed her hand and she gave a weak smile down to me. She started stroking my hair softly.

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm not sure how I feel about you holding a rifle and having to kill something."

"It's okay mommy, daddy's killed deer before he'll teach me how not to be afraid" I said throwing my arms around her neck.

"Oh baby," she sighed. "I don't know how I feel exposing you to this...what it's like to see a life end and by your own hands..." Her eyes seemed to drift off for a moment and then they quickly snapped back to me. "I just don't want to take away this...innocence" she said more to herself than me, her eyes filled with tears.

I pushed her away my childlike pride hurt. "I'm not a baby!" I exclaimed.

"I know sweetie I wasn't saying that," she chuckled wiping away tears. "You'll understand one day when you have your own baby," she stood up suddenly, snapping back to her old chipper self; "Now come on I have a nice big breakfast made for you and your father is just aching to get out into those darn woods" she chuckled. "Hurry up and get changed and come downstairs" she said before sweeping herself briskly out of the room.

I quickly jumped out of the warm bed, startled by the conversation with my mother. I was disturbed by her fear. I felt a moment of doubt pass over me, questioning whether I was ready to go hunting. These doubts quickly went away as I wriggled into my bulky insulted hunting clothes.

I ran down stairs practically skidding across the kitchen floor.

My father looked up from where he was oiling the guns, giving me a goofy grin; "Well someone's excited."

I gave him a huge smile as I sat down in my chair, piling my mother's fluffy pancakes onto my plate. I could barely contain the anxiety I felt.

This was one of the last memories I have of my family being happy before everything fell apart. You would never have thought only a few months from this moment everything would be so tragically different between us.

After I had scarfed down my mother's pancakes, I quickly jumped out of my chair, urging and pulling my father to hurry up so we could get out into the woods. He smiled down at me scooping me up on top of his shoulders, carrying us outside. He had only walked a few yards away from the house when my mother came running out after us.

"Wait!" She squealed. My father set me down on the ground in order to embrace her long kiss. She then turned her gaze to me,pulling away from my father and getting eye-level with me, sweeping my unruly red curls out of my face.

Saying, as she cupped my face in her hands; "Listen to your father and stay close to him." She pulled me close to her, hugging me. I instantly went slack in her arms, she whispered softly with a kiss on top of my head; "I love you."

As much I wanted to stay in her arms forever, I knew I had to get a move on. I pulled away from her rushing to catch up with my father. Walking with him I turned back, seeing her standing in the doorway, the rising sun lighting up her red hair perfectly and making the tears on her cheeks glisten. I kept looking back at her there wanting to capture that image of her forever. Eventually she returned inside but I never forgot the perfection of the image of her standing there.

After what seemed like ages of walking we arrived to the tree where my father decided we would set up our post. My father loaded the gun as I waited anxiously. He leaned down to give me the now loaded gun. With a stern look in his eyes he said; "Be careful with this and remember everything I have taught you when practicing. And remember this, never hesitate and don't ever overthink."

I knew little then what those words would mean to me but I thought then I was ready for this responsibility.

I quickly scampered up to the point in the trees my father had chosen. For hours we sat up there, at first I was excited but by this point I was bored and tired. My father told me to be quiet so we talked little. I just sat there passing the time by admiring sunlight hitting the many different fall colors of the leaves.

In the middle of my admiring, I heard a rustle of leaves. My father instantly perked up raising his gun, scoping out what was going on. We soon found the thing that had disturbed our serene quiet. It was a young doe. Beautiful, long, and strong. My mouth instantly dropped, marvelling in the beautiful creature that was standing so close to our perch. My father snapped me out of my admiration with an excited whisper; "Rosalie, now position your shot. It's your time. Remember what I said don't hesitate."

I quickly held up my rifle finding the perfect angle for the shot, right at the young doe's torso, hopping for a quick and clean finish. For only an instance, I saw the young doe's dark eyes flash with fear, but all too soon the look vanquished as I heard the bullet leaving my gun and hitting it right where I wanted it to.

My father looked at me in admiration; "Beautiful shot." But I was too shocked to registrar my father's pride in me. I couldn't believe it. I had killed that beautiful creature.

My father quickly dragged me out of the tree, awaking me from the cloud of shock that came with my first kill. He hurriedly moved towards the carcass. As we approached I saw the sadness in my fathers eyes and then it hit me. The deer was still alive! Looking down at the beautiful doe I first saw it's eyes. Eyes I would never forget. Eyes that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I looked at those eyes that were once filled with light now gone. It was still alive though, eyes and legs twitching with the last bitter slow pains of life. Even though it's eyes seem to see, it was if it was seeing something, something not here. Dead yet alive.

I quickly started to hyperventilate, clutching my father's arm I screamed; "Please Daddy, please. We have to leave. Something is wrong with it, I did something wrong. Why does it look like that?" I dug my nails deeper into his arm.

He quickly shoved me back. Looking angry; "What's wrong with you? This shit happens sometimes. Sometimes you shot the deer and it doesn't die right away. We just have to put it out of its misery."

"But it's...it's eyes. Why... What's wrong with it?" I screeched, the tears now coming stronger.

"Knock it the fuck off" my dad raised his hand to me then quickly pulled it away, ashamed. He did this a lot, reacted angrily when he didn't know or understand something, frustrated only in himself. He quickly turned away, ignoring my muffled sobs as he took the knife and stuck it in the deer's head.

The deer seemed to let out a sigh and then it ceased to move. It's eyes finally dull and lifeless. My father turned back to me, some of his anger seeming to dissipate as he said dully; "Let's go." He knelt down to fix the drag bag around the carcass, as I stood near him, willing myself to stifle my sobs trying to get rid of the image of the dying deer.

Soon my father had the drag bag fixed. We didn't speak the whole long way back to the house. Eventually I went numb reflecting on how ugly this day was. It was cold and bitter out, ruffled dead leaves preparing for winter crunched as I walked home, brown, ugly and dead.

As we reached home I saw my mother and my four year old sister,Audrey, running out to greet us. Both had the same curly hair flying back and excited green eyes. As soon as they caught up to us, my mother noticed my father's numb expression and my tear-stained cheeks. Audrey babbled happily about something she did today and I just stared at her blankly wishing I could be as naive as her. My mother didn't say a word and swept Audrey up and silently continued ahead of us back towards the house. My father parted from me to take the deer to the barn.

I ran into the house, breathing heavy. I needed my mother, I needed her to comfort me. I went into the family room and saw her standing over my newborn sister, Miranda's crib, checking on her sleep. I cautiously approached my mother. As soon as she saw me she swept me into a hug; "Shhh baby girl everything's gonna be okay." She strocked my hair silently as I sobbed in her arms. Eventually she led me to the bedroom holding me until I fell asleep.

I woke up later in my room. Looking out the window, I realised it was dusk. As I sat up in bed the memories of the day came flooding back fast to me. I tried to shake them off but the tears started to well up again. Angry words disturbed my torturing thoughts, eventually realising they were my parents.

I rose from my bed standing at the edge of the stairwell. I heard my father say angrily to my mother; "It's not my fault Darlene. I guess she wasn't ready. She's not like I thought she was."

"It's not about what you thought she was! It's about what she experienced today" my mother shouted. She moved closer to him her voice become gentler as she touched his arm; "just talk to her about it honey, talk to her about death. I don't think she understood..."

"No!" He screamed as he jerked away from her. "It's not about understanding anything. You know what? It's just like you girls, putting so much emotion into something that doesn't need it, it's a deer for Christ's sake."

"It's more than that and you know it!" My mother said as she started to cry.

My father quickly balled up his fists and blew a large sigh. "I gotta get the fuck outta here for a little" he mumbled running out the door.

My mother collapsed on the floor, sobbing. I wanted to comfort her but I didn't know how. So I turned my back on her and returned to my bedroom, shutting the door and returning to my bed.

I stayed up for hours staring at nothing, seeing only the image of the deer and my mother collapsed on the floor.

I never went hunting again but I did witness the eyes of that deer again. Not only in my dreams but also my reality. I witnessed it as my father raised another can of beer to his lips, as his eyes began to glaze over, numb to what was going on around him. I witnessed it in my mother's bruised face, as the light and excitement eventually disappeared from her bright green eyes. Dulling them as she became number and quieter as the beatings grew more consistent. Eventually I saw these eyes everyday, in the faces of people I knew and didn't know. As the fever claimed their mind and when they came back to life forgetting who they once were only knowing the flesh they craved.

Maybe that day prepared me for what to come but I know I would do anything to go back before the day. Back when my parents were alive, back when I didn't have to survive day-for-day. Back before the world went to shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**As requested by one of the reviews on my last chapter, I will let you know this is a love triangle story, between the main character, Rosalie, and Daryl and Rick. Also, there will be some sub parts involving the younger sisters and other characters. This story is told through various points of views. Please keep sending me more suggestions and questions in your reviews of this story, I really appreciate it. Also, please take into consideration I am new to this site and new as a writer so please excuse some of my mistakes. Keep the reviews coming and I hope you enjoy!(:**

**Chapter 2:**

*13 years after the event of Chapter 1**:**

**Rosalie:**

It feels like we had been going on like this forever. Walking along this stretch of highway for what seemed like ages. It was summer and the heat was nearly unbearable with the amount of walking and little water we had. As much as I hated to do this, we had to find a place away from the city. Staying so close the last time had been a huge mistake, we had barely made it out alive when our makeshift campsite became overrun with walkers. Venturing out into a more rural area defiantly seemed like a smarter choice. We had encountered very few walkers while walking along this expanse of farmland.

Lucy quickly startled me out of my thoughts by pulling on my arm; "Are we almost there?" She said staring at me with those huge innocent looking eyes.

I took her hand and smiled down at her. "Don't worry Lucy, just a little while longer. We just have to find an abandoned farmhouse or barn to stay in for a little while."

I heard Audrey grumble some curses under her breath. I quickly turned around shooting her a look. This was just typical Audrey. As much as I couldn't blame her for her attitude, it was so hard to deal with it, especially under the stress of trying to survive. Luckily, we both weren't in the mood to fight.

"How about we play the quiet game?" Miranda chirped. I could alway depend on her to diffuse situations. She was used to being the mediator between Audrey and I. She always has had the most positivity and hope out of us all.

"But that's boring" Lucy said with a pout.

"No way! You just have to play it right," Miranda said, coming up and grabbing Lucy's hand. "How about a prize, whichever one of us can keep quiet the longest, gets the bag of skittles we found at the grocery store."

Lucy immediately piped up and exclaimed; "Okay!"

I turned to Miranda with relief and mouthed, "thank you." She just gave me a weak smile back.

I knew we all couldn't last much longer in this midsummer heat. After about a half hour of silence, Lucy screamed out; "There", pointing to the top of the hill. Immediately after she screamed, she covered her hand over her mouth realising she had lost the game.

"Holy shit" Audrey said. It's a farm!" Audrey took off springing up the hill to investigate.

"Wait don't run off alone!" I screamed after her. The three of us quickly took off, racing after Audrey. By the time we reached the top of the hill, we saw the expanse of land surrounding us. I breathed a sigh of relief spotting a barn but no house. And then I saw it farther back towards the woods, the remains of a house, burned to the ground. Audrey stared at it with a blank stare, her thoughts seemingly drifting off.

I quickly snapped her out of it; "Audrey and I are going to investigate over there. Miranda go wait by the barn with Lucy but don't go inside just yet."

Before Miranda could walk away I yanked her back. Whispering in her ear and slipping my gun into her open hand I said;"Only use it if something happens while I'm over there checking out what's left of the house. And do not go inside the barn. Understand?"

"Yeah" Miranda said breathlessly.

I turned away from Miranda, ushering Audrey to follow me.

When we reached the house we saw the further extent of the damage. The charred wood of the house laid throughout the yard. No structure of the house was remaining. Audrey and I split up walking throughout the remains, seeing if anything of the house had survived. That was when I heard Audrey screamed.

I hurried over to her so fast pulling her towards me when I reached her. "What the hell is wrong?" I rarely saw any emotion cross Audrey's face, but it was only then I saw the fear and shock in her eyes as she pointed to the ground. At first I couldn't see anything but it was then I saw the charred walker. Black and red flesh and tissue exposed. The smell of the fryed skin was unbearable, and I puked onto the nearby ground. If that wasn't enough, the walker started crawling toward Audrey and I. It was only then I noticed Miranda and Lucy standing next to us, alerted by Audrey's scream. I pushed Miranda away; "Get back to where I told you now!" I saw her and Lucy's face, the shock spreading; registering. "Move" I said sternly, giving Miranda a strong push.

I waited until they walked away, seeing the walker had crawled pretty close to us. I grabbed my knife out of the side pouch of my backpack. Moving fast, I approached the walker, stabbing it in it's head, the only spot that can truly end it. After it was over I sat back and looked at it. Flesh so burned that I could see the bone and tissue. It was revolting, but at least it wasn't moving.

I turned to Audrey, seeing her expression had calmed. "It's like a goddamn horror show out here" she remarked.

"I know" I sighed.

"I mean we've seen some pretty fucked up shit, but that's gotta be one of the worst" she said. Turning to me with a questioning look, barely whispering; "you think whoever it was...that they...did this to themselves."

"God, I hope not" I whispered.

"What if there's more?" She said as her eyes grew wide.

"I don't know, but lets not stick around to find out" I said as I knelt down to get the knife free from the walker's skull.

When we arrived to the spot where I had left Miranda and Lucy, I could tell they were still in shock. I decided to ignore what we had all witnessed and focused on the barn.

"Walk behind me when we go in and Miranda give me the gun" I said moving towards the barn door. Grabbing the gun from Miranda, I took a deep breath, my hand on the door preparing myself for whatever was inside.

I quickly pushed it open. My eyes adjusting to the dark barn. I looked around noticing it was nearly empty. No walkers. I breathed a sigh of relief. I then looked around for anything, mainly food.

I noticed a pitchfork and some hay in the loft of the barn. I sighed, knowing I shouldn't have expected to find any food in the barn.

"We'll sleep up there tonight" I said as I pointed to the loft.

"On hay? That shit is so itchy" Audrey scoffed.

I gave her a threatening glare; "Sorry Audrey this isn't some five star hotel but you're gonna have to deal. And how about you watch your language" I exclaimed, throwing a glance towards Lucy.

"Whatever" she said rolling her eyes as she climbed up to the loft.

I shut the barn doors and joined the 3 of them in the loft.

We were all pretty quiet for a while as we just sat up there, but Lucy piped up and said; "What about some food?" I looked at her and the faces of my other sisters and knew we all had the same thought on our mind. I pulled out my bag, unzippering it, I pulled out the little food we had. 3 water bottles, 1 can of cold ravioli, and the bag of skittles. The grocery store was so ransacked and this was the little we could scour up.

Lucy pouted and said; "Well I guess Miranda gets the skittles."

Miranda smiled at her and said; "Well since you found this place, you can have my skittles." She said grabbing them out of the pile and handing them to Lucy.

Lucy smiled so brightly. I was glad someone was actually happy since what happened earlier.

I sighed at the remaining food. "Okay, Audrey and I will share the water bottle. Lucy and Miranda you guys each get a water bottle and we'll split the ravioli four ways."

Audrey immediately grew angry; "why do they each get a water bottle? I've done a lot more than they have. And anyway, what the fuck makes you think you're our leader, Rosalie?"

"Shut up Audrey" I said throwing her a nasty look.

I could tell Audrey wasn't backing down this time she rose up, yelling; "Fuck you, Rosalie. Why do we even fucking try, this is pathetic. What about tomorrow? When we don't have any food? We might as well just end our lives now. There's no way we're surviving much longer anyway. What with no food, medical supples, and stuck in the middle of nowhere? You're all fucking dumb to even keep trying" she said throwing up her hands and sitting hard back on the floor.

My face was so hot from the anger I felt towards Audrey. I knew she had been through a lot, even before the outbreak she had a hard time. But that was no reason, for Christ's sake hadnt we all been through a lot?

I grabbed her wrist hard, as she tried to shake it away from me; " Listen here and listen good, Audrey. Your gonna stop with all of this. We've survived this long and we'll continue surviving until this is all over. Your making it harder on all of us with the way you've been acting. Listen I know all the shit you went through in the past..."

She quickly whipped her hand out of my grasp. Breathing heavily, with tears on the brisk of escaping, she said; "I told you not to bring that up...ever again."

I softened a little; "I'm sorry, Audrey but you have to stop for everyone's sake."

"Fuck you!" She screeched, a few tears escaping her eyes.

I looked away from her, noticing Miranda and Lucy. Lucy was sobbing heavily in Miranda's arms, while Miranda just rocked her, throwing a look of shock towards Audrey and I.

I put my fingers to my temple, gently rubbing it. "Okay!" I said, my head snapping up; "Lets eat." I then realised we didn't have plates.

"Christ" I mumbled.

I handed out the waters as planned and then I said to them; "were gonna each get a handful of ravioli, it's small but it will hold you out until morning when I can go scavenge for more food."

Audrey gave a sarcastic snort as she rolled her eyes. I ignored her, dishing out the servings.

As disgusting as it was to eat from our dirty hands that hadn't been washed in days, we were all hungry. Dramatically shoving the food into our mouths. I could barely remember the last time we ate.

After our lousy dinner we all spread out along the hay, laying down and falling asleep. Lucy didn't lay next to me like she usually did, she chose to instead lay near Miranda. I knew it was because of the fight today.

I sighed rolling over knowing I would get little sleep tonight. Thinking of the fight Audrey and I had today, the walker, and all of the things I knew we would need in order to survive.

I laid staring at the ceiling barn for hours, drifting in and out of sleep. Trying to get comfortable was impossible between the heat and the itchy hay.

I eventually rose out of bed. I knew there was only a few hours till morning, but I had to go for a walk. Even though it was dangerous, I decided to check out the surrounding woods before my sisters woke up. Maybe there was a safer place close by. Maybe there was people.

I grabbed my knife and my backpack, leaving my gun in case my sisters woke up and needed it.

I started towards the wood line and walked for hours. The cool summer night helped to ease my discomfort. It reminded me of summer nights when I was little. These memories kept away my fear from being out in the woods at night, alone. I only ran across one walker on my stroll through the woods, easily executing it.

It was still the wee hours of the morning. The sun was beginning to rise and I thought about giving up and turning back, when I saw it through the tree lines up ahead. An old white farmhouse. I moved closer checking out the land. I could see a barn and tents and a camper. It looked like people could possibly still be living here! I was excited at the thought of maybe being around new people, I hadn't seen very many others since the outbreak. But doubt crept up telling me these people might not be that friendly.

I decided I would comeback later with my sisters and check out the house. Even if there were no people there it still looked safe to live. Secluded, with a garden and animals that could supply us with a food source. I had even noticed a well for water. It was perfect.

I was about to walk off, back to my sisters, when I felt an arm whisk me around. I came face-to-face with a man who looked to be about in his 30s. He had messy brown hair and was pointing a crossbow at my face. I tried to shake him away but he had a firm grip on my arm. Tighting his grip he asked me; "Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?"

**Daryl:**

Sometimes I have to get away from it, I thought as I laced up my shoes. I knew Rick didn't like it when I went out in the woods by myself, but nowadays it felt like the only way I could clear my head. So I decided to get up early before everyone and go hunting. Even if I only found a squirrel it was better than nothing. Seems like the damn walkers ate just about everything. But it really wasn't even about the hunting, I thought, maybe if I went out there I would find her, Sophia.

Maybe it was a longshot, I thought as I walked out of my tent and into the woods, but unlike Shane, I had hope Sophia was still alive out there. Even though she had been missing for days, alone, I had to have hope, especially for Carol.

For about an hour before the sun rose I wandered the woods, calling her name softly from time to time. But just like the days before I didn't find her.

I noticed the sun was starting to rise, so I started back to the farm. They were all gonna be awake soon and I didnt need them worrying about me. I had just reached the tree line that gave way to the farm, when I saw her. She was crouched low, surveying the farm. She had long, curly, bright red hair. Even from where I was I could tell she hadn't bathed in a long time. Sweat and dirt clung to her small body. That's when the worry set in. Who was she? Why the hell was she starring at the farm like that?

I quickly scooted behind a tree, keeping her in my view. It looked like she hadn't seen me so I could probably get a jump on her.

I loaded an arrow in my crossbow. Just in case.

I rose moving silently towards her. When I reached her I grabbed her by her wrist, whipping her around. Keeping my crossbow pointed at her. That's when I got my first glimpse of her. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. Her curly red hair framed her face setting off her bright green eyes. She had pale porcelain skin which even when caked in dirt and sweat was still beautiful. She looked to be only in her early 20s.

When she first saw me, shock and fear quickly appeared on her face. She was breathing heavily, she probably thought I was a walker coming to sink my teeth into her flesh. I felt bad for her but I knew I had to protect the farm, you never know nowadays who's dangerous.

She quickly grew angry trying to yank her hand back, cursing me. I gripped her tighter growing angrier with her not cooperating. She was trespassing on their land. "Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?" I growled at her.

"I'm looking for a safe place to stay. I don't mean no harm" she said with a sweet southern accent. That's when I noticed her fingers fumbling for the knife looped in her belt. I quickly grabbed it before she could do anything. Her eyes widened with shock when I grabbed the knife from her belt. Dumb bitch should've have been more sneaker than that.

"Now you're gonna tell me why your really here" he said sternly.

"I told you" she screeched. "Now give me back my knife."

"What so you can stab me with it? No thanks" I chuckled sarcastically.

"Let me fucking go" she said wriggling harder.

"What? So you can go tell your group that we have a nice place with food and protection? You want them to come here and take it from us. Killing us all? I'm not fucking stupid" he shouted.

That's when I noticed Rick and Shane approaching. I kept my crossbow on her until they came close enough.

"What the fuck is going on?" Shane said angrily.

"We just woke up and heard shouting over here" Rick said more gently. They both turned and saw her, registering what was going on. It must have been a sight, me with my crossbow pointed at her, us both looking like we were going to kill each other.

Rick and Shane looked at her in shock. Shane's eyes moved up and down her body, seeming to like what he saw, I hated that guy sometimes. It kind of made me mad to see him standing there looking at her like that. That feeling quickly vanquished when I realised I still had a tight grip on her.

I stepped back from her, putting my crossbow down. She shot me a dirty look as soon as I backed away, rubbing her wrist where I had held her.

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" Rick said running his hands through his hair nervously.

"I caught her scoping out the farm. I got a jump on her because I didn't know if she was dangerous or not. Damn, she still maybe for all I know. Tried pulling a knife on me;" I exclaimed.

She stared at me angrily while I talked. As soon as I was done she screamed out; "In my defence you did have a crossbow pointed at my damn face."

"But why are you here is the real reason?" Shane said, stepping closer to her.

"I'm here because we need a safe place. We're staying in a barn not far from here. We need food and better shelter than a barn. Please understand..." She said choking back tears.

"Hey, it's okay we're not going to hurt you" Rick said, reaching a hand out to touch her arm. "But I have to know who is we? Your group?"

"My younger sisters!" She exclaimed, the tears streaking violently down her face. "I need to get back to them, they don't know I left...they might be looking for me...putting themselves in danger..." She tried to run off but Shane grabbed her, yanking her back hard.

"You can't leave just yet. How can we trust you?" He said.

"They're young I have to go back to them. They need me" she sobbed. "Please let me go."

"Okay" Rick said reassuranily.

"Are you kidding me? Rick we don't know this girl, she might bring a huge group back to kill us. Think of Lori and Carl, your putting them in danger by letting her go" Shane shouted, pointing back towards the house.

"He's right, Rick, you can't just let her go. You can't trust anybody nowadays" I said, throwing her a look of pity, which she ignored.

"Please" she screeched. "They're just young girls. Who are starving! Ill never comeback I promise! I need to go they need me!"

"Stop" Rick said, running his fingers again nervously, through his hair. She looked up at him with fear. "Daryl and I are going to take you back to your sisters. We'll check out your story and see if your telling the truth. If you are, we'll ask the owner of this place, if its okay if you and your sisters can stay until you guys can get on your own feet. Shane, stay here with the group. You might want to go back up to them and tell them what's going on" he said gesturing to the faces of our group, staring down at us with worry and curiosity.

"Are you sure Rick? What if she's lying? A huge group will easily take you and Daryl down" Shane said with worry.

"We'll be fine" Rick said stepping back. "We'll be back in a little while."

Shane shook his head with disbelief and turned around, walking back towards the curious faces.

I looked at her, silent tears streaming down her beautiful face. She wiped them away quickly throwing a dirty look my way when she caught me staring at her. Rick numbly nodded to me and the three of us walked towards the woods. I didn't know if it was a trap or not all I know is that I was more curious than ever about this beautiful girl.


	3. Chapter 3

**To the reviewer on the last 2 chapters(I believe it's the same person?). Thank you for letting me know the changes I needed to make. I appreciate your honesty and I have removed the Carol tag from my story. Sorry to all readers who expected a Carol/Daryl love story. Furthermore, to the reviewer I ask you to keep reading. Even though this is not what you expected I hope you could give my story a try, I've been working really hard on it. Also, Carol will have a large role in the story, maybe not as you hoped but she is involved, I'd love more reviews from other people about what you guys think so far and the direction I should take this story and whatever else you want to say. Thank you for reading and enjoy(:**

**Chapter 3:**

**Rosalie: **

I couldn't believe what had just happened.

I thought for sure I was going to die. Luckily that one guy had showed. I think his name was Rick. Those other two guys didn't seem too sure of me, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is getting back to my sisters.

We walked quickly back to where the barn was. I walking faster than them, hoping to arrive before my sisters realised I was gone.

We didn't talk much, I just looked at the ground and walked fast, while they did the same, sometimes glancing up to look at me. I ignored their stares, just trying to focus on getting back to my sisters.

By the time we were close the sun was high in the sky. I knew my sisters were up by now and they were probably freaking out because they couldn't find me. I choked back tears, willing myself to keep moving.

The one named Rick was the first to start speaking; "So we never caught your name?"

"Rosalie" I said with a wavering voice.

"Well if you didn't already catch our names, I'm Rick and this is Daryl" he said gesturing to the man with the crossbow, who tried to kill me.

I gave a weak smile towards Rick, choosing to not even acknowledge Daryl.

"So how many sisters do you have?" Rick said cautiously.

"I have 3. Audrey, Miranda, and Lucy. Audrey's 17, Miranda's 13, and Lucy is 6. So now you can see how important it is for me to get back to them" I said quicking my pace.

Rick and Dary quickly caught up to me. Didn't they realize I wasn't in the mood to talk?

"How old are you?" Daryl questioned quietly.

"23" I said numbly.

Eventually they took the hint, realising I wasn't focused on talking, just reaching my sisters.

After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the edge of the farm. I saw the barn and sprinted towards the door, not even glancing to see if Daryl and Rick we're following.

**Audrey:**

I kept drifting in and out of sleep. Mainly finding it hard to drift off because I felt awful for the things I had said earlier tonight to Rosalie, and in front of Miranda and Lucy! But I knew I was partially right, Rosalie had to face the reality of the situation we were in.

Eventually I reached a time where I could not fall back asleep. I sat up stretching out my legs. I noticed the sun was up, well at least I had gotten some sleep last night, even if only for a few hours.

I crawled among the hay, trying to see if any of my sisters were up. I noticed Lucy and Miranda cuddled into a small ball among the hay. They were still asleep and looked peaceful curled up there. Even I couldn't help but give a little smile at them. I sat there for a minute admiring their peaceful sleep. Well, at least they had slept good last night.

I then moved along the hay to where Rosalie was. I wasn't looking forward to this. What if she was up? Rosalie was known for talking out problems and what if she wanted to talk about what happened last night? I couldn't deal with having the past brought up, especially not with the situation we were already in.

I went to her spot, finding it empy. I found her gun nearby to where she had laid. I noticed the hay packed down, so she had laid here last night. But the real question was; where the hell was she?

I moved along the hay searching for her. Maybe she had moved to another spot? I looked and looked not finding her.

I then ran outside of the barn. Maybe she had went outside for something. But why would she leave her gun behind?

I burst through the barn doors, giving my eyes time to adjust to the early morning light. I looked in every direction but I saw no sign of Rosalie. That's when the panic set in.

I hurried back into the barn, realising I had made a lot of noise in my struggle to find Rosalie, waking up Miranda and Lucy.

"What's wrong?" Miranda said rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Rosalie..." I said breathing heavily, trying to be strong for their sake.

"What...?" Miranda said, looking around. Then she turned sharply back to me, realising what I had meant. "Have you checked everywhere?" She said, tears brimming over her eyelids.

"There's only one other place I think she might be" I said numbly; "the woods."

"Let's go" Miranda said jumping up, to pull on her shoes.

Lucy just stared at us in shock, slowly piecing together what was going on.

"No" I shouted, startling Miranda and Lucy from their thoughts. "I'm going to go alone. Miranda, stay here and watch Lucy. Don't leave the barn and keep the door shut. Put that pitchfork through the door handles to keep it locked" I said numbly turning away from them.

"You can't go out there alone and just leave us! What if something happens! You need me!" Miranda squealed.

"I need you to stay here is what I need" I sternly said back to her.

Miranda stared at me in shock, tears sliding down her face, while Lucy shoved her head into Miranda's shirt loudly crying.

I turned away from them ignoring their faces. Just as I was about to walk out the door I turned back realising I had forgotten something.

I climbed back up to the loft, never looking at them, quietly grabbing the gun from where Rosalie had laid. I looked back at them before I left the barn, pointing at the pitchfork, " Do what I said Miranda."

Miranda stifled back a sob and numbly nodded, as I turned my back on her, leaving the barn.

I quickly ran to the edge of the woods, choosing to walk along the woods closest to the highway, just in case I got lost I could find my way back. I hoped Rosalie choose the same path.

**Rosalie:**

I hurled myself into the barn door, trying to open it fast. It wouldn't budge, locked by something inside. I heard a squel when I hit the door, breathing a sigh of relief when I realized they were inside. But why was the door locked?

"Open the door! It's me!" I screamed, loudly knocking on the door, sobbing.

"Rosalie?" I heard a little voice, question.

Rick and Daryl caught up to me, immediately noticing my distress. I kept knocking hard, "Open the damn door" I screamed.

I saw Rick and Daryl throw questioning looks at each other but I ignored them and kept pounding on the door. Suddenly the door opened. Lucy and Miranda were standing in the doorway in shock.

I quickly pulled them towards me, the three of us sobbing cries of relief. For a moment everything was okay, until I realised I hadn't seen Audrey.

"Where's Audrey?" I said breathlessly.

Miranda and Lucy looked down at the ground, while Miranda spoke sobbing; "She went looking for you. She's not with you?..." Then noticing for the first time, the two men behind me, she said; "who are they?"

I weakly looked back at them, standing in the doorway, looking uneasy and out of place. "They found me when I went out this morning. We're gonna stay with their group for a little while so grab your stuff" I took a deep sigh, stoping myself from letting out a cry; "I'm gonna go find Audrey." I said turning to walk out of the barn, Rick and Daryl looked at the ground, choosing not to look at me.

Daryl said softly; "I'll go and help you find her."

I didn't even care that it was him coming, I just had to find Audrey.

Rick said; "I'll stay with them;" gesturing towards Miranda and Lucy. Even though it probably wasn't a good idea to leave my sisters with a total stranger, in this world sometimes you have to rely on strangers. I gave him a nod and ran out the door with Dary following close behind me.

I stood at the edge of the woods, wondering which way she might have entered.

"Your sister?" Daryl questioned cautiously. "Is she familiar with the woods?"

"No" I said letting out a small chuckle; "She's not the outdoorsy type."

"Well" he said scratching the back of his head. "She probably entered over here", pointing to the stretch of woods closest to the highway. "This part would be the easiest to follow back if she got lost."

"You're right" I said giving him a weak smile. For a moment we looked in each others eyes but then he quickly turned away; "We should probably go."

"Yeah" I said, pondering that moment but then quickly snapping back and realising we had to find Audrey.

We wondered through the woods, checking around for any trace that she had been here. After about 20 minutes, Daryl spotted fresh footprints; "She'd been here not too long ago."

"Then we're close?" I said with new hope.

"Possibly" he said, flashing me a hopeful smile.

We had only wandered a little farther down the trail when we heard a scream and gunshots. I quickly ran following the voice; "Audrey" I screamed out. That was when I saw her running towards me, fear reflecting in her eyes. She ran into me at full force knocking me down; "Walkers" she screamed.

That was when I saw them. Looking up two of them were stumbling towards us. I saw she had shot them but not in the head. Audrey had never been a good shot. I took the gun from her hands and quickly stood up, pushing her behind me.

Before I had time to even aim, I saw an arrow fly and hit one walker, straight in the head, and then quickly another arrow came, doing the same to the second walker. I turned to Daryl, giving a nod of thanks,which he ignored, walking forward and collecting the arrows from the walker's heads.

Audrey stood up shakily, on the brink of tears, turning to me; "Where the fuck where you? How could you just leave us alone like that? And who the hell is he?" She said, shooting Daryl a look.

"Audrey, I'm so sorry, it was a mistake to leave...but I couldn't sleep last night...what you said was right we couldn't survive living in that barn. So I went out hoping to find a place nearby. I didn't plan on going far and I expected to be back before you guys woke up...I got carried away but I found a place", I said nodding to Daryl. "There's a group there, their going to let us stay for a little until we can find somewhere else. But it's safe there, they have food and water." I gently touched her arm but she just shot me a disgusted look; "I'll never leave you guys alone again, I'm so sorry."

"How do you know it's safe? We don't even know these people!" Audrey screamed.

"I've met a few and they are trustworthy. It's too big of a risk too stay at the barn so we're going with them" I said.

"Whatever" Audrey said. She then turned to Daryl, who was sitting there looking very uncomfortable; "What's your name?"

"Daryl" he said with no emotion.

Audrey then spun off on her heel, walking back towards the barn. I turned to Daryl, giving him an apologetic glance but he didn't return my gaze.

**Daryl:**

I couldn't believe all the drama that could happen in just a few hours. Thankfully they had found the teenage girl, I couldn't deal with anymore tears.

At least Rosalie had seemed to forgiven me for earlier. She was talking more and being more friendly. She even had looked me in the eyes. I must seem so cold to her, I could barely even look at her but I couldn't help it. She made me feel emotions I hadn't felt before, she reminded me of myself. I could tell she was hurting and just like me I could see she came from a painful past. I knew looking at her would only make me feel attached to her, and in this world you couldn't afford emotional attachments, they only ended up hurting you in the end and I couldn't deal with anymore pain.

The three of us walked back to the barn, not talking at all. I could tell the moody girl was mad at Rosalie so that made it even more uncomfortable for all of us.

By the time we reached the barn, Rick and the two little girls were standing outside of the barn with the few things the four of them had. The two girls practically jumped on Rosalie and the teenage girl. More tears and hugging. Rick and I just stood back uncomfortably. The teenage one pulled back from them, she didn't seem one for an emotional reunion. I saw Rosalie shoot her a look but she just ignored it.

"How about we head back?" Rick said awkwardly.

"Yeah let's go" Rosalie said giggling as she pulled back from her sisters. God she had a cute laugh.

The walk back was quiet. The only one who talked was the little one, I learned quickly her name was Lucy. She chattered about everything, for the most part I ignored her but it was nice to hear someone so happy for once.

By the time we reached the farm I was starving. I couldn't wait to eat.

As we headed up to the farmhouse, I saw the girls grow uneasy as new faces approached. Lori quickly came up to Rick, hugging and kissing him, throwing the girls disapproving looks, asking Rick a bunch of questions, but Rick for the most part ignored her, knowing he had made a difficult decision in inviting more people back to the farm. Especially when he didn't have the right to since it was Hershel's farm.

"Can you introduce Audrey, Miranda, and Lucy to the rest of the group?" Rick said to Lori, nodding at the three younger girls. "Rosalie, Daryl, and I are going to talk to Hershel about them staying."

"Of course" Lori said curtly. She smiled when she saw the younger girl, Lucy, grabbing her by the hand, she said "I'm Lori, how about you girls come with me."

I could tell Rosalie was uneasy about letting her sisters go off with the rest of the group. I could see that she was deeply protective of them.

As we walked up the steps I could see Rosalie was visibly shaken. I knew even I was worried they wouldn't be aloud to stay. I could see even now that Hershel wasn't a huge fan of our group being here. I knew he would not be a fan of more mouths to feed. But I know deep down Hershel was a good man and I defiantly know no one could turn away someone who made an impression like Rosalie did.

I saw Rosalie freeze halfway up the steps, Rick had already ran ahead of us. I couldn't just ignore Rosalie. I knew she was going through a lot and was scared Hershel wouldn't let her stay. I knew for her and her sisters this was their only shot at survival. I probably should have walked away, ignoring her, I mean I didn't even know the girl, but seeing her nearing tears was so painful. So before I knew it my hand reached out grabbing her's.

Her head quickly snapped up, looking at me with shock. Her green eyes piercing at me, I couldn't help but stare back at her, admiring her beauty. It was only a moment but we stared at each other holding hands. Then realisation of what I had done set in. I quickly dropped her hand and ran into the house. I could tell I had hurt her but I shouldn't have done that in the first place. As much as I wanted to turn around and explain to her, my usual emotional hardness set in, forcing me to keep walking. I hated myself for being like this but I couldn't stop it. This was how I had always been and I didn't know any other way.

**Rosalie: **

Rick had already discussed with me before we arrived to the farm how we would have to ask the owner of the farm, Hershel, if it was okay if my sisters and I could stay. He told me how Hershel was already wary of their group being there so he might not take too kindly to the idea of more people.

Walking up the steps to the house, I froze with fear. I knew if we weren't aloud to stay, we would die. It was a miracle we had survived this long and if we had to go back on the road again we defiantly wouldn't make it. And I didn't want to lose this. God, this was the first time we had been around people in over a month! We all needed a sense of normal, otherwise we would go crazy without it.

I hadn't even noticed I had hesitated on the steps until I felt someone squeeze my hand. Looking up, I noticed it was Daryl. He whispered soothingly; "It's going to be okay." Suddenly as if he had done something wrong, Daryl dropped my hand and moved quickly up the stairs to join Rick in the house.

I held my hand, feeling my face grow warm. What was that? Earlier, Daryl couldn't even look at me and now he had held my hand like he actually cared about me. I felt like crying wondering why I cared so much about it. It probably meant nothing but still. Suddenly I heard Rick call me from inside of the house snapping me back to the present. Quickly jogging up the stairs I ran into the house.

As soon as I entered I felt at home. The house was old and had a homey feel to it. It reminded me of my house, small and secure. But I knew now that even something that seems so secure can fall apart.

I entered the kitchen, joining them all. I looked at Daryl first, still wondering about that moment on the stairs but he wouldn't look at me. I then turned seeing the people in front of me.

There was an older man with white hair. He clearly looked distressed upon seeing me. This must be Hershel. There was also two other women, one with blonde hair and middle-aged. She didn't exactly look like she was all there emotionally. Then there was a younger woman around my age. She had short brunette hair and green eyes. She was incredibly pretty but like the man she didn't look too happy to see me.

"This is Rosalie" Rick said quietly. "As I can see you already heard how we found them on the outskirts of the farm. She has three young sisters. They were staying in a barn not far from here. I think you should let them stay for a while, Hershel. They were barely surviving as they were and it didn't look like they could last much longer."

Hershel stood up from the chair he was sitting in. "Rick I don't think so. There's too many people here as is and we've had enough problems from your group already" he said frowning.

"Come on" Daryl said, quickly jumping in; "You realize if you send them back out there, your sending them to their deaths. You might as well murder them yourselves. There are young kids with her, the one is six! Don't you think that little girl has seen enough horror as is! Think about it Hershel."

Hershel's glare softened as he let out a sigh; "You're right. They can stay but only for a little while longer and that goes the same to your group" he said sternly shooting a glare at Rick.

"Are you sure about this Dad?" The dark girl said,giving me a look.

"We can't let them go back out there, Maggie" Hershel said with a sigh. Turning his gaze to me he said; "What's your name girl?"

"Rosalie" I said quietly.

"Okay Rosalie" he said; "Listen, I'm sorry about all this drama over you staying. I hope you understand, I'm just looking out for the best interests of my family."

"I completely understand, sir" I said happily.

"You look like you haven't seen a meal or bathed in days" Hershel remarked. "How about you and your sisters go clean up and then join us for dinner. We'll figure out sleeping arrangements later. Maggie go show our guests where to shower at."

"Okay" Maggie said grumpily, gesturing for me to follow her.

**Daryl: **

Good thing Hershel had been understanding about Rosalie and her sisters staying. I don't know what I would've done if he said no. Just thinking about them being out there alone made me upset, but I couldn't think about it because it wasn't going to happen.

I could tell Hershel was pissed about them being here but he'd get used to them. Christ, he got used to our huge dysfunctional group, he defiantly could deal with four innocent girls.

I walked back outside while Rosalie went and showered. I saw the other three sisters sitting happily among the group. Well I wouldn't say all, Audrey seemed to be keeping as much distance as she could from the group but Miranda and Lucy seemed to fit in as if they had always been there.

I saw Lucy sitting close to Carol at the picnic table. Carol and the little girl kept talking and joking with one another like they had always been close. Carol had always been a good mother figure and I knew this girl reminded her of Sophia. I felt happy to see her actually smiling. It was the first time in a while I had seen a Carol really talk much since Sophia went missing.

After I ate dinner with them I went to my tent to lay down. I sat there spacing out, reflecting on everything that had happened today. That was when she came in.

It was as if I was seeing her for the first time. Her hair was clean tied up into a high bun. She was wearing fresh clothes and her body was free of dirt. Damn, she was beautiful.

I tried not to look at her as she crouched down next to me.

Rosalie gently touched my arm as she whispered; "Thank you."

I turned to her looking her in the eyes. "For what?"

"For helping me find and save my sister" she lightly chuckled and then looking down at the ground; "And for what you did on the steps today."

"Your welcome" I said numbly trying to turn away from her.

"Why do you pull away from people?" She said. I could sense the hurt in her voice.

"I'm sorry" I said looking at her; "Dont take it personally its just how I am."

"I'm trying not to" She whispered. "I can tell you come from something painful. Maybe one day ill know but for now I just came to tell you thank you."

We stared at each other, it took everything in me not to grab her and kiss her. She was the one to pull away from that movement first, standing up to walk out of the tent. She stood in the doorway for a moment to look back at me. "Goodnight Daryl" she whispered.

"Goodnight Rosalie" I whispered back.

When she left, I laid there for a while staring at the ceiling of the tent. I wondered what had just happened. I tried not to think about her but it was so hard. The image of her standing there was burned in mind. And I felt as if I could still feel where she had touched me on my arm. I tossed and turned that whole night knowing it was going to be a while before I could forget about that moment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I've been trying to update the chapters as much as I can but its so hard with school and everything. I really want to know what you guys think so far! I really want more reviews from you guys. Well here's Chapter 4! Enjoy!(:**

**Chapter 4:**

**Rosalie: **

So far life at the farm was nice. We got along well with everyone in the group. It took a few days for some of them to get used to us, but eventually they all came around. Unfortunately, I learned that everyone in the group had suffered.

Rick and Lori's son, Carl, was accidently shot, while he did survive, the man named Otis, who went to retrieve the medical supplies needed, ended up perishing. This was the middle aged blonde woman's husband, her name is Patricia. She is very quiet and I can tell she is emotionally unstable since Otis's death.

One of the biggest tragedies this group has suffered was losing Sophia. Sophia was Carol's daughter. While on the highway, a horde of walkers came through, chasing Sophia into the woods. Rick tried to save her but she ended up not returning to the group after Rick led the walkers away. Ever since she has gone missing, the whole group has been searching for her in the woods. Daryl though, searches more than anybody, going out everyday to try and find the young girl.

While this group has suffered many tragedies, I can tell they are a great support group and I am happy and comfortable being with them, I'm just scared one day my sisters and I will be forced to part from them.

As a woman, I've been expected to help the other women in the house, preparing meals and doing laundry and such. I enjoy the conversation but I would much rather be outside helping Daryl search for Sophia or keeping watch. I was never good with household duties.

I get along really well with Andrea. She is in her thirties and we are a lot alike, both wishing to do something more than everyone's laundry and making meals. I also have really come to like Maggie, even though she wasn't a big fan of us staying at first, we have become really close, since we are around the same age. Beth, Maggie's teenage sister, and Miranda are really close now, even though Beth is a few years older, both Miranda and her have bubbly personalities. Lucy sticks with Carol most of the time. Carol has been great in watching over her since we've been here and Rick has told me she seems a lot happier and hopeful now that another little girl is around.

Audrey is another matter. She has mostly been avoiding everyone. Sometimes she will awkwardly stand with all of the women in the kitchen but for the most part she stays in the tent, moping around all day.

I asked her soon after we go there why she has been acting like this, but she just says she doesn't fit in here. I thought maybe her and Beth would get along since they are the same age but it has been quite the opposite. Audrey hates Beth and her bubbly personality, she thinks it's annoying and fake. Also, Beth's teenage boyfriend, Jimmy, has seen to have shown an interest in Audrey, driving both her and Beth further apart.

A few days after I had been there, I was helping the women in the kitchen. Everything was going normally as it had been since I first started helping in the kitchen. Patricia was shy and aloof while Maggie and Andrea chattered happily. Lori, Rick's dark haired, wife was more quiet than usual. I had noticed since I had been here Lori was very mysterious. I sometimes caught her whispering with Shane, who had creeped me out since we first got here.

I wondered why Lori was acting so strangely, I could see Maggie shoot her looks every now and again. There seemed to be something going on between the two but I couldn't figure it out. I didn't want to ask because I was afraid to cause any problems.

"So..." Andrea said turning to me, startling me out of my thoughts about Maggie and Lori. "What were you before all of this? All of us here are curious."

"Well" I said sighing; "before this I was a student at Duke University. I was taking Pre-Med programs there hoping to become a pediatrician. I was actually about to start Med school before everything happened. I also used to play soccer for Duke." I looked down at the floor, I don't know why I was embarrassed about it, those were some of my best years. I could escape at Duke and I loved what I was learning. I missed my summer internships. I missed playing soccer and traveling. But most of all I miss my friends. I wonder what happened to them, I like to think their out there alive somewhere.

And then there's him. Duke, was where I fell in love for the first time and got my heart broken. Colton. Just thinking about him made me inwardly shudder. Memories came flashing back fast and I had to grip the table for support.

Lori was the one who approached me first; "Hey, it's okay if you don't want to talk about the past I know it's hard." She was comforting and sweet.

"No it's not that. I just had a lot of good memories there" I said smiling.

"If you don't mind me asking..."Andrea said, speaking cautiously; "what happened to your parents?"

"Andrea" Lori scolded.

"No it's okay" I said, taking a shuddering sigh. "My parents are dead. My mother died long before this mess. She committed sucide when Lucy was around a year old."

I could see everyone's shocked face when I spoke this aloud. It felt weird to even say it, I mean it had been 5 years but it still stung the same.

"And my father" I said holding back tears; "He died about six months after the outbreak. I kept telling him we had to leave our house, it wasn't safe but he wouldn't leave. He was so stubborn. But it ended up killing him when he went to find us some food. He never came back and one day I found him out there...in town...as one of the walkers. I never told the girls about how I found him. They just believe he left."

I still remembered the day I found him. Looking at him standing there, I saw the same shell of a man he had always been. The only difference was he craved flesh instead of alcohol. I decided not to tell the women that he hadn't actually went out for food, instead he went to ransack the local liquor store after we ran out of alcohol. I found him outside of that store, knowing I would find whatever was left of him there. I firmly held the gun up, not even crying as I pulled the trigger. I had accepted the fact that my father was long gone before that moment.

The women around the kitchen had faces of pity but they also shared a similar pain. All had lost a loved one through this. Surprisingly, it was Lori who stepped up first to pull me to her. I was surprised, Lori had ignored me for the most part since I had been here. She had even been one of the ones who had been colder to me when I arrived but now I could see how great of a person and mother she was.

That was when Daryl walked into the room. I don't know how long he had been standing behind the door, but the look on his face told me he had heard everything.

Lori pulled back from me, all the women gave him a look. None of us liked it very much when the men invaded our territory, this was our time to talk with one another.

He shot me a look of pity and understanding, but I just looked at the floor. Ever since my first night here with Daryl in the tent, things had been awkward between us. We said hello to each other in passing but hadnt had much of a conversation since. Sometimes, I would catch him staring at me, making my face flush and my heart pound. I don't know why he made me feel like that. Sometimes though, unknowingly, I would stare back at him.

Daryl cleared his throat and said; "I'm heading out to search for Sophia. I wanted to know if any of you knew where any water bottles are, I'm gonna take a few because I'm gonna be gone for a while."

"You're going by yourself?" I said speaking up.

Daryl turned to me and looking me sternly in the eyes and said; "Yes."

"Oh" I said staring down at the floor; "I think there's some water bottles in the pantry."

"Okay thanks" he said shortly. I could feel his stare burning into me, but I chose to ignore it.

"Where's Carol at?" Patricia said quietly, reminding us of her presence.

"She's in the living room playing with Lucy" Maggie said.

A look passed over Daryl's face when Carol was mentioned; "I'm gonna head out now, I'll see you guys later."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Andrea said earnestly.

"No I want to do this alone" Daryl said gruffly.

"Fine" Andrea said sadly.

I gave him a longing glance as he walked out the door, him, choosing not to look at any of us.

Lori sighed; "Well I'm gonna go and check in on Carl. See how he's doing."

Maggie shot her quick look and said; "I'll join you."

After that, it was just Patricia, Andrea, and I. Andrea turned to me saying; "Lets go outside. I'm bored being cooped up in here all day."

Andrea and I left going to join the others outside. Andrea walked up to the camper, calling up to Dale. Dale was an older kind man who owned the camper. I could see since I had been here he cared deeply for Andrea appearing as a father figure to her.

"What's up?" He said peering down to Andrea on his perch atop the camper.

"How about I take over your watch?" Andrea pleaded.

"I don't know Andrea you're not very experienced with a gun" he said worried.

"Come on Dale, I'm not that bad and anyway I have Rosalie with me. She knows how to shoot" Andrea said with a smile, throwing a nod my way.

"Alright " Dale said with a sigh, beginning to lower himself down the camper. As he got down he handed the gun to Andrea. "Be careful with this and use it correctly" he said rolling his eyes. "I need to rest for a while; that sun is starting to get to me."

Andrea and I quickly scampered to the top of the camper. As we sat up there I saw Daryl in the distance, sattling up a horse. I couldn't help but watch as his strong arms lifted the saddle atop the horse. I tried not to stare but I couldn't help it; Daryl was good looking.

Andrea gave me a look and then let out a snort; "I know for a redneck he's pretty hot."

My face flushed fast as I turned away from her; "I'm not looking at him."

"Sure" she snorted. "I heard you guys had a thing going but I thought it was just a rumour...you barely being here for that long and all...and Daryl doesn't even have any emotions that I know of...besides pissed off."

"Nothing's going on" I said nervously playing with my hair. "He was nice to me when I first came here but that's it. Like you said, I haven't been here long and we barely ever talk. Anyway what makes everyone think we have something going on?"

"It's pretty obvious. You guys stare at each other like its your job" Andrea said laughing.

"I don't think I do that" I said shaking my head.

"Sure."

"Let's talk about something else" I said softly.

"Whatever you say" Andrea said rolling her eyes. "But before we move on from this subject, I should probably let you know that Daryl lost his brother not too long ago. They were extremely close, his brother Merle was an asshole, but I think he was all Daryl had."

"He died?" I exclaimed, immediately interested.

"We don't know actually. He was left on a rooftop in Atlanta... it's a long emontional story for a lot of people here, so I won't dwelve into the specifics...We went back for him but we couldn't find him. I think Daryl still believes he's alive" she said sadly.

"Well it's good he has hope, that's something we all could use. I feel bad for him, not knowing has to be worse than Merle being dead in a way" I shrugged sadly.

"I don't know about that" Andrea said staring off quietly.

Just as I was about to ask Andrea why she seemed upset when I said that, she quickly swivelled to me with a smile.

"So lets get on to a better subject" she said giggling. We then both looked up noticing Daryl riding off into the woods.

"I hope he will be okay out there alone" I wondered aloud.

"He'll be fine" Andrea chuckled. "If you knew Daryl like I know him you would know he's one of the toughest sons of bitches alive. Anyway..." Andrea said flicking her hair; "So you went to Duke? That's a damn nice school. Pretty expensive too and far from here. Tell me about it. If you're comfortable talking about it."

"Yeah of course. Duke was great. Best couple years of my life. I got enough scholarship money for soccer and academics that I could afford to go there. My dad refused to pay for it at first but luckily I got the scholarships so it was barely anything."

"Damn smart girl" she chuckled. "I just went to community college."

"Yeah I was actually planning to go to the University of Alabama with my..." I quickly stopped myself.

"What?" Andrea said reaching out to squeeze my hand.

"I was planning to go there with my boyfriend...Colton...he got a football scholarship there. We both went to the same highschool in our small town, not far from Atlanta. He was great at football, one of the best I had seen. When he got the full ride to Alabama and I got in there, we both had these big plans but then I got the scholarship to Duke, and Duke was just better for what I wanted to do. I loved Colton but I wanted a career and I didn't want to be tied down to a guy. So we broke up for a while but then when I went back for Christmas break the first year I saw him again and..." I bit my lip with a smile.

"Come on girl I gotta hear the rest of this" Andrea said earnestly.

"My girlfriends dragged me out to this party when I was down and he was there. We ended up talking the whole night and then we ended up hooking up" I said the warmth of embarrassment trickling up my cheeks. I could still remember that night. The impatient and longing kisses from so much separation. His strong arms wrapped around me pulling me closer to him. I quickly shook those thoughts away; "At the end of the break we decided we had to get back together we missed each other too much. So we had a long distance relationship; at first it worked we had loved each other ever since highschool. He was one of the few that had been there for me when my mom passed. You might have thought he was just a stereotypical jock but he could be sensitive when he wanted to be."

I had a hard time choking back the tears. Colton and I had been the most perfect couple, everything had seemed perfect for so long. Maybe that was what broke us apart, how perfect we were. I've learned throughout my life, things that seem perfect never stay that way.

I took a deep breath as I continued; "While we were in this long distance relationship, we worked. I went and saw some of his football games and he would visit and support me in soccer. Every time we saw each other it was like we fell back in love because we hadnt seen each other for so long. After about two years of this, Colton proposed. It was hard at first because Colton came from a wealthy family who had never really accepted me...my family didn't have the best reputation in town and I defiantly was not near as wealthy as them. His family kept telling Colton I wasn't good enough for him and they wouldn't accept our engagement. Finally, he told them he wouldn't ever talk to them again if they didn't accept it. He was their prized son so they had no choice but to accept me. They still weren't the nicest to me but they tolerated me. Eventually Colton started to change though I don't know what caused it...I guess he became like his pig-headed football friends after the summer we became engaged." Before I knew it tears were rolling down my cheeks as I continued to tell Andrea.

Andrea leaned out to hug me; "You don't have to tell me the rest."

"No I want to" I said wiping away tears. "Anyway he started visiting me less and talking less about the wedding. And when I would visit him he went out to parties with his friends, leaving me alone in his dorm. Then one time I went to one of these parties with him and his friend Jack..." I said angrily. "He was drunk...that fucking creep...he had always tried to hit on me and Colton always had excuses for him. He followed me into the bathroom and grabbed me."

I started to sob as I remembered that night. I remember entering the bathroom and him pushing me further in and locking the door. "What the fuck are you doing, Jack?" I said.

"Something I've always wanted to do since I first meet you. I know you've always wanted me you dirty slut" he said stepping closer to me.

"Fuck you I'm engaged to one of your best friends!" I said pointing to my ring.

"Really? Doesn't seem like that to me. I can tell you've always wanted to fuck me, you always stare at me" he said pushing me back against the sink.

"Help" I screamed out. I had barely uttered the word when I felt a hard slap against my face.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch" he said, pushing my back farther into the sink.

"You can't do this. Colton won't let you get away with this. I wont let you get away with this" I said trying to wiggle out from where I was pinned between his legs.

"Cut me a break" he said grabbing my arms and pinning them behind my back. "Colton tells me how much of a slut you are. He brags all the time how every time you visit you always want to fuck and how you'll practically do anything that he wants."

"That's not true" I screamed between sobs.

"Just shut up."

He quickly unbuckled his pants with one hand keeping the other grasped on my arms. I could feel his nails digging into my arms. I could barely breathe, panicking trying to think of how the hell I was going to get out of this. Every time I screamed he would just strike me. I knew no one would come. There was no way anybody could hear me over the thumping music.

He moved my legs apart, touching the silk underwear beneath my dress.

"Please" I pleaded.

"Shut up" he said rubbing his fingers along my underwear. Then he grabbed them forcefully ripping them off. He then quickly pulled his underwear down, pulling me closer to him. I could feel him hard against me, pushing against my entrance. I was going to be raped.

Then as if by a miracle, I freed my arms from his grasp. I didn't even realize I had punched him until I felt the warm blood from his nose on my hand. "You bitch" he said, clutching his nose.

I quickly jumped down, unlocking and charging out of the door before he could grab me again. I pulled my dress down. I could feel my makeup running down my face and from the hallway mirror I could see I how pale I was with fear. My hair was sticking up every which way. I cried stumbling through the house. Everybody probably thought I was on drugs. My one thought was to find Colton.

I stumbled into the kitchen, seeing him standing close and whispering with a blonde girl. I saw his arm snaked around her waist. I had little time to be shocked because I knew I had to tell Colton before Jack came in. I grabbed Colton, pulling him away from the blonde girl who gave me a dirty look.

"What the hell is going on, Rosalie?" Colton said gruffly. "You look like shit. You shouldn't have drank so much."

"That's not it, Colton, please come back to the dorm with me. I need to tell you something" I pleaded, pulling hard on his arm.

"No, it's still early. You can go back. You've obviously partied a little too much tonight" he chuckled sarcastically.

"Jack nearly fucking raped me" I screamed. Everyone in the kitchen turned to stare at me.

Colton quickly grabbed my wrist pulling me outside. "What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you making a scene in front of my friends like this? It's embarrassing!" He said angrily.

"Did you hear what I told you? Jack followed me into the bathroom" I said choking out the words between sobs. "He was just about to rape me and luckily I got free. Where were you? How could you leave me alone?"

He gave me an angry look as he pressed his hands against his temples in obvious stress. "Listen go back to the dorm. Sleep this off. We'll talk more when I get back. Okay?" He quickly walked back into the house before I could even speak.

I stood there for a few moments, dumbfounded. Numbly, I walked back to his dorm room. I walked into the bathroom turning on the shower, blasting the heat. I stepped in, cleansing myself of Jack's smell. I sobbed as I scrubbed hearing only Colton's disregard for Jack's attack on me. After I was done showering, I puked into the toilet, feeling numb instead of sad.

I fell onto the bed trying to close my eyes but all I could see was swirling faces. All angry at me.

I must've fallen asleep, because I remember opening my eyes immediately being blinded by midday sun. I had a throbbing headache. I got up, realising Colton was gone.

I walked up to the mirror, looking at myself. I was pale and sickly looking. Red streaks spread across my face. Where Jack had hit me was purple and my lip was swollen. My hair was stringy and matted and my eyes were swollen from the tears. I pulled up my hair into a high bun and threw on leggings and one of Colton's old T-shirts. Where once I had been comforted by his smell that lingered on his T-shirts, I now felt like puking when I wore it. I had no choice though I was on a mission, I had to find him.

I quickly walked to Jack's dorm. I knew he was there. They both were.

I got stares as I walked to his dorm but I ignored them, only focusing on one thing.

When I reached the door I knocked briskly on it. I heard loud music and girls shrieking with laughter.

Eventually when I realised no one was going to answer the door I barged in. Colton was leaning in close to the same blonde girl from last night while Jack was talking to another girl who seemed uneasy with him. A few of Colton's other friends milled around, staring at my face. I could see Jack's nose was bandaged up and swollen. Good.

Jack and Colton were the last to realize I was there. I got a dirty look from both. Colton stood up and walked away from the blonde girl and out of the dorm room, I followed knowing that's what he wanted me to do.

We stood out in the hall. Staring at each other awkwardly. I spoke first; "So I'm guessing you talked to Jack?"

"Yeah he told me what you did" Colton said angrily.

"What I did? Are you kidding me! Look at my goddamn face, Colton! Look at his! He tried to rape me!"

"He told me how you followed him into the bathroom, Rosalie. How you forced yourself on him. He tried to stop you for my sake but you got mad and hit him because he wouldn't have sex with you." He just crossed his arms and stared at me.

"But what about my fucking face? Where did the goddamn bruises come from and on my arm" I screamed, showing him my arms and pointing to my face.

He looked down at the floor; "I don't see anything, Rosalie."

He grabbed my hand; "Listen, Rosalie, we can make this work. I want too. I'll forgive you for this and we can move on. I love you. But if you're asking me to choose between you and my teammate...well you're not gonna like who I choose."

I jerked my hand away; "Fuck you!" Tears welled up in my eyes; "I've been with you since we were fifteen and you've only known that asshole for a two years. What happened? What made you change? How could you stand here and see the physical evidence and not believe me!?"

He stood up taller, anger flaring in his eyes; "My parents were right about you, you are a piece of trash. Acting just like you're dumbass father. Drinking and making a fool of yourself, forcing yourself on my bestfriend. I'm standing here willing to give you a second chance and your still acting like the piece of trash you are, barging in and embarrassing me in front of my friends."

I stood there for a moment processing what he said. I didn't say a word. I silently slipped my engagement ring off and threw it at him. I walked away fast.

"Rosalie! Wait, I didn't mean that! You know that. I'm sorry! I forgive you!" He shouted after me.

I never looked back as I walked away from him. Knowing Colton was not the same man I had fallen in love with.

I stared back up at Andrea after I had finished my story. We both had tears in our eyes.

"I'm so sorry" Andrea whispered, squeezing my hand. "But why me? You've only known me for a few days. You've told me so much."

"I don't know" I said shyly. "I trust you guys. We've all been through a lot and I feel comfortable telling you about it. It also helps to tell someone about him. I feel like I'm finally letting him go."

"Did you ever see him again? Or talk to him again?" Andrea said with interest.

"I saw him once after that. It was when I went home for the summer. I rarely went back to the house but things were going on with Audrey and I had to help her. It was right around the time people first started getting sick. I was going for a morning jog and I saw him outside his house, sitting on the porch drinking teas with his parents and the blonde girl. His parents gave me dirty looks but he wouldn't even look at me. I ended up hearing in town he was down for the summer and that blonde girl was his wealthy girlfriend, Carla. I guess he got what he wanted, I just wish I could know if he was okay."

"Why? He was terrible to you!" Andrea exclaimed.

"Yeah he was but he once loved me more than anybody ever had" I said sadly.

"Who knows where he is" Andrea said. "But I'm sorry about everything."

"Don't be" I whispered.

"Since we're being honest with each other I should probably let you know, I lost my sister not too long ago...to walkers" she said with downcast eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost one of mine" I said.

"I didn't for a while. I wanted to die, she was all I had left. I'm okay now, I'll never get over her but I...I'm better" she said smiling through her tears.

We sat there like that for a few minutes, appreciating the echoing silence that filled our thoughts. We quickly though resumed our watch, returning to the horrible reality in which we were forced to live.

**Daryl: **

That morning I had gotten up thinking about the same thing I thought about everyday. Sophia.

I got up knowing I was going to search again in the woods but I was going to alone. I needed to clear my head, especially because of Rosalie.

I tried to put a lot of distance between us but it was impossible. Once she looked at me with that smile I was hooked.

I quickly shook away those those thoughts as I pulled on my clothes and laced up my boots. Finding Sophia was more important than thinking about Rosalie. Carol needed her back. I knew Carol was happier now that she had Lucy to look forward to, but Carol had been through too much. She was abused by her husband and now she had lost her only daughter. I felt a lot of sympathy for Carol, we both had been hurt by those who were supposed to love us, maybe that's why I kept trying to help her.

As I walked out of my tent. Gathering my crossbow, I realised I needed waters. I was probably going to be gone for a while and the heat was bad today. I walked into the house, pausing outside the door as I heard murmured voices.

I heard Rosalie's voice speaking and then I realised she was telling them about her past. I listened, curious as to where she came from. She explained that she had went to Duke and was planning to be a doctor. She also played soccer there. She was smart and athletic. As she explained, I thought about how her life would have been so great if the outbreak hadnt happened.

I could hear her voice cracking, holding back tears. Talking about this must have brought back a lot of memories. Good or bad I couldn't tell but I wanted to comfort her. Talk to her and hear about her past.

Then she talked about her mother and father. I could tell she was crying now as she told them her mother had committed sucide.

One thing I noticed particularly was the lack of emotion she had when telling about her father's death. Killed by walkers. I knew there was more of a story by how she said it.

I took a deep breath, hearing the other women comfort her. I didn't want to walk in on them but I had no choice, I needed the waters.

I walked through the doors, seeing Lori hugging Rosalie. All of them besides Rosalie gave me a glare as I walked in. Rosalie wouldn't look at me when I shot her a look of understanding. I knew she was hurting and that there was more to her story than what she had told them.

I explained to them how I was going out and how I needed the waters. They pointed me in the direction of the waters. I could tell Rosalie was concerned about me going out there alone but she never asked to come.

I walked away from the women not looking at any of them. I had treaded in cautious territory with them.

I waked outside grabbing a few water bottles. I took one of Hershel's horses not even asking to see if it was okay. I didn't need any questions about me going out to search alone.

As I saddled up the horse, I looked up seeing Andrea and Rosalie on top of the camper. Rosalie was staring at me but I saw Andrea say something to her and her turn away, embarrassed.

Rosalie was so beautiful. Her red hair looked to almost be on fire with the sun reflecting off of it. She was wearing a tank top and cutoff shorts she had made from a pair of jeans. I tried not to stare at her exposed legs and bare arms.

I continued to saddle up the horse, trying to focus on the task at hand. I hurriedly got onto the horse and rode off.

For a while, I wandered through the woods. Softly, calling out Sophia's name from time to time but to no avail. I started to think about Merle then. Always in the quiet, it was Merle who entered my thoughts.

I wondered if Merle was alive. We all had seen his chopped off arm on the roof, meaning he had escaped. The real question was if he survived?

Merle was the only one I could trust and lean on. He could be an asshole but we looked out for each other. He was all I had when I was younger, and the only who could understand what it was like to deal with my father.

I eventually stumbled upon a creek. Inspecting it, I noticed a doll in the water. Picking it up, I realised it was Sophia's. This was good I thought. She might still be close around here. I quickly jumped on the horse taking off.

For a while, I wandered with new hope. Deep in thought, I barely noticed the horse was travelling around a deep ravine. I saw a thin line of black, realising it was a snake. Before I had time to lead the horse away, it let out a loud neigh throwing me to the side down the ravine. I rolled and thumped against the ground as I faster approached the bottom of the ravine.

I landed at the bottom with a large thud. It was then I realised a piercing pain in my side. I reached down and felt the arrow stuck in my side.

"Shit" I mumbled with pain. I reached and touched my side, pulling my hand up I saw it was covered in blood.

My head thumped back against the hard ground. I saw flashes of white in the sunlight. Laying like that was when he came to me. Merle.

He kneeled down next to me, throwing me a sarcastic smile.

"Well look at this. How the hell did you do this to yourself?" He said.

"The horse did, not me" I said grimancing with pain.

"Come on little brother, you injured yourself out looking for a little girl. You should be looking for me your own flesh and blood."

"I did look for you!"

"Not like you have for this little girl!You're Rick's little bitch now. Always doing what he says. You should kill him, all of them after what they did to me."

"Stop" I said feeling more pain.

"No not until you shoot that bastard Rick right in the face."

"I can't. He's not like you say he is."

"Just what I thought you'd say" he said with a scowl.

And then he was in gone. My eyes were open adjusting to the sunlight. I realised I had passed out and Merle wasn't truly there.

I felt something down by foot and looked up realising a walker was chewing on my boot!

I quickly stood up, wincing in pain, I grabbed a large stick. I pulled the walker on the ground and smashed its head in. I then stood up, realising there was another. I quickly pulled the arrow out of my side, screaming in pain. I fastly put it in my bow and shot the walker straight in the head.

I slumped against the ground. Breathing heavy, I knew had to get up.

I saw the walkers laying there and I don't know why but I pulled my knife out. I cut off their ears and put them on a necklace. I don't know why I did that. Something had snapped in me after I had envisioned Merle. I felt angry. Maybe Merle was right, I was taking orders from Rick and the others. People who had left his brother on a rooftop.

I looked up at the cliff, realising I was going to have to climb. I heaved myself up using all my strength to pull. That was when I heard the taunts.

Merle again. Standing there, screaming down to me. "You're a pussy! Rick's little bitch. You can't even climb up this cliff. Come on."

"Shut up" I shouted in pain. Sweating and breathing hard but I ended up rolling backwards.

"That's all you got? You have to have some bigger balls than that! Or wait I think Rick has those!" He said with a chuckle.

I ignored him climbing again. I used all my strength to propel my body forward, hearing more taunts thrown my way.

"I bet you won't have the balls to shoot Rick" he shouted down.

"Fuck you" I screamed at him.

"God, you're not even man enough to tap that pretty girl. Yeah I know you think about her little brother. I don't blame you she's a hot little number but you're such a pussy I doubt she'll ever want you."

"Shut the fuck up!" I screeched as I propelled myself over the ridge of the cliff. I laid there for a moment heaving in pain.

"Remember what Rick did, brother" he said in nearly a whisper.

I weakly lifted my head to look at him but he was gone. I crawled for a few feet and then shakily stood on my feet. Slowly slinking back to the farm. My brother's words echoing in my head.

**Rosalie:**

Andrea and I sat up on top of the camper for a few hours. After our talk we laughed and joked around like old friends. For once forgetting about the hurt we had experienced.

"Walker" someone screamed, piercing our conversation. I quickly looked up, searching for a walker. I saw it far off. Dirty and slumping.

"I'll shoot it" Andrea said, readying the gun.

"No" I said touching the barrel. "Rick and Shane will get it. Remember, Hershel doesn't want guns firing on the property."

"Okay" Andrea said, not so sure.

I saw Rick and Shane running towards the walker.

"I'm gonna go help them" I said standing up and quickly jumping off the camper.

I quickly met up with Shane and Rick. We moved towards the walker, eventually realising it was Daryl. He was covered in dirt and sweat and had blood on him. He looked dazed, his eyes met mine for a second and then narrowed on Rick. I then noticed Glenn standing near us. He was an Asian man around the same age as me.

Rick kept the gun pointed at Daryl, noticing the crazed look in his eyes.

"It's about time you pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" He shouted.

He had barely uttered the words when a shot went off. Daryl hit the ground suddenly. I heard Rick scream but before I knew it I was next to Daryl.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Daryl mutter; "I was just kidding." As he touched his head.

Shane and Rick helped him off the ground, supporting him as they walked back to the house.

"He has ears around his neck!" Glenn exclaimed. I looked and to my surprise saw he was right. I gave an exclamation of shock.

Rick hurriedly pulled them off his neck and said; "Lets keep that to ourself."

Andrea came running up, shouting apologies but I could tell Daryl was barely concious.

We got him back into the house and laid him on a bed. I could tell Hershel was angry a shot had been fired and one of his horses was missing.

"Hershel, I can take care of his wounds" I said seeing how exasperated he was. "I was studying to be a doctor so I know my stuff."

"Okay, I'm gonna see about finding that horse and I need to have a little chat with Rick."

People came milling in and out of the room but I shooed them out. I could see they were all worried about Daryl.

Patricia helped me getting me a basin of water, bandages, medical supplies, and clean rags.

"I'll handle this" I said to her.

"Okay" she said quietly leaving the room.

I sighed looking at Daryl. I could tell he barely knew what was going on.

I first took of his shirt. It was hard not to stare at his bare muscles but I quickly took myself to cleaning him. I wet clean cloths and washed the dirt away from his body.

I saw a wound in his side, it looked like an arrow had pierced him. I also saw where the bullet had grazed him, I cleaned it out and put a bandage on it.

He had a lot of bruises on his body but I was mainly worried about the wound on his side.

I cleaned out the wound with some of the medicine startling him as it burned.

"Sorry" I said with a small giggle.

"Hurts like hell" he whispered.

"I know" I said. "It needs stitches you know, only a few."

I reached for the equipment I would need for stiching him up.

"Why are you doing this?" He questioned.

"Because I like to fix people" I chuckled. "And also because you got pretty bruised up out there. So what the hell happened?"

"The horse got spooked and I fell down a cliff into a ravine. My arrow pierced my side."

I began to stitch him up, deciding not to bring up the ear necklace and why he was angry at Rick.

"Oh" I said quietly.

We were both quiet while I finished. When I was done, I took more wet rags from the basin.

"Here you want me to get the dirt off your back" I said.

"No!" he said sitting up fast.

It was too late though I had seen it. Long white scars laced his back.

"Who did that to you?" I said choking back tears.

"My father" he whispered, looking away.

"I'm sorry" I said with a whisper.

"Don't be it's not your fault he was a dick."

"Yours wasn't the only one. Sit up so I can clean your back."

He sat up, staring out the window as I rubbed his back in small circles with the rag. His muscles instantly went slack with relaxation.

"What did your father do?" He questioned.

"He hit my mother and sometimes my sisters and I. He became an alcoholic after he got laid off from his job and other things happened..."I trailed off.

"I'm sorry" he said turning to look at me. His hand reached out hesitantly stroking my cheek with his thumb. "How could anyone hit you? You're such a good person."

"I'm not that great of a person" I said shyly, laying my hand over his.

I could feel his breath on my face and I loved being this close to him. It was then he pulled my face to his, kissing me hesitantly at first, but then faster. My mouth opened to his as I laid gently down among the covers. He slowly moved on top of me. My fingers traveled up his chest, feeling the hard muscles.

Suddenly the door swung open, startling Daryl and I. We quickly sat up, putting distance between each other.

It was Carol and Lucy standing in the doorway. Lucy looked confused while Carol looked shocked. A moment of hurt passed over her face as she turned away and walked back down the hallway.

"Shit" Daryl said putting his head into his hands.


End file.
